This thesis presents a reappraisal of the performance of the Mexican general officer corps during the U.S.-Mexican War, 1846-1847. Often negatively libeled, Mexico’s defeat is often attributed in no small part to the moral shortcomings of the generals who led her armies. By a detailed analysis of their background, motivations, and military careers, a more accurate perspective regarding the Mexican general officer corps’ performance during the war can be obtained by the reader.
It is the argument of this thesis that the operational tactics and organizational weakness of the Army’s High Command sufficiently account for the failures of the generals without examination of its moral shortcomings. Both the Bourbon Spanish military heritage and political/social heterogeneity of the officer corps impeded its success as a corporate entity. By a detailed analysis of senior Mexican military leadership during the war’s two major land campaigns, it becomes apparent that the army’s failure is attributable in no small part to both of these factors whose detailed analysis has been overlooked in past scholarship.

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en_US

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dc.subject

U.S.-Mexican War, 1846-1848.

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Mexican War, 1846-1848--Military personnel--Mexican

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Mexico--History, Military--19th century

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Valor Wrought Asunder: The Mexican General Officer Corps in the U.S.-Mexican War, 1846-1847.